Goumbooks’s Drop It Youth Campaign was initiated to raise awareness about single-use plastic pollution and encourage individuals and organizations to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions through simple everyday choices.

Students and youth were chosen as ambassadors of this campaign for raising awareness in their community and schools against single-use plastics. These ambassadors were able to meet many youngsters in their community and informed them regarding the effects of plastics to our marine species, ecosystem and to humans.

They presented their ideas and tips to their classmates, schoolmates and met people in retail outlets and requested them to forsake using plastics and also to take an online pledge at www.dropityouth.org. Within a matter of 3 months, these ambassadors were able to bring a change in their community to some extent.

Ms. Tatianna Antonelli Abella founder of Goumbook along with its supporting partners Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi, Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Eco-schools and HSBC were quite impressed with the ambassadors’ initiatives. They were felicitated for their efforts on June 22, 2019 at Our Space, Lamborghini Building.

I was also appreciated for my efforts in fighting against plastic pollution. I requested the other ambassadors to adhere to the great visionary, late Sheikh Zayed’s words, “On land and in the sea, our fore-fathers lived and survived in this environment. They were able to do so because they recognized the need to conserve it, to take from it only what they needed to live, and to preserve it for succeeding generations."

Let’s try to support the Drop It Youth Campaign and follow these simple steps in our everyday choices to put an end to Plastic Pollution:

1. Drink filtered tap water.
2. Carry a reusable water bottle
3. Take a paper/jute/cotton bag for shopping
4. Say NO to plastic straws
5. Use glass containers to store food at home